Kala Reso Concert with steel strings

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I have a concert scale Kala reso uke, metal cone with the wood body. It currently has Aqulias on it, but I was thinking of changing over to metal strings of some sort, just to get a different sound. More SpongeBob and Robert Johnson, maybe play with a slide.

I'm mostly concerned about the string tension being higher and putting undue strain on the instrument. I keep looking at the scarf joint on the neck and think that maybe its not a good idea.

Has anyone tried this??
 
I don't know for sure but I think you need an instrument built for steel strings .
I wouldn't try it.
 
If a uke isn't designed for the extra tension (most, like your Kala, are not), DO NOT put steel strings on it. A steel string uke is a very specific instrument made to handle a lot more force. Steel strings + normal uke = broken things.
 
You can use wound nylon like classical guitar strings but definitely not steel like electric guitar strings
 
SO maybe a better question would then be:

"I'm looking for a metal body or resonator uke that can handle metal strings, what brand and model would you recommend??"
 
You might be able to use one of these sets (though I would still advise caution)

https://www.stringsbymail.com/thoma...d-classical-guitar-strings-full-set-1499.html
https://www.stringsbymail.com/thoma...-fingerpicking-guitar-strings-16-43-5408.html

They are both made by Thomastik and are slightly different versions of the same thing.

They are wound rope and/or nylon core strings. Supposedly they sound more like steel strings but have the tension of nylon strings and are designed for classical guitars.

They are VERY expensive though as far as strings go. I have a set that I plan to try on my Godin Motif nylon string parlor guitar some time, but haven't actually put them on it yet.
 
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You mentioned playing with a slide. Have you tried that with the strings currently on? I don't do it often, but I find slide works great with nylon, fluoro, or other uke strings. It's less noisy than with steel too. I mean unwanted kind of noise.
 
I'll second what jer said. Staying with ukulele strings is your insurance against damaging the neck or the top with strings that require more tension than a uke is designed to handle.

If you want to fingerpick blues, you might try the plastic picks from Alaska Pik. You can trim them to length and they shouldn't do any excessive damage (unlike metal finger picks or even some thick plastic guitar picks). I had trouble keeping my nails intact when I did a lot of vegetable gardening, and these worked well.

https://alaskapik.com/
 
I would imagine your action would be somewhat higher for that, no?
 
Yeah, for playing a lot of slide your action being higher is easier. That said, if you have a really light touch you can get away with it on a nice low setup. It's just harder. A light glass slide is probably easier to control in that case.
Most of my slid playing is on home-made diddley bow type instruments. No frets there and very high action.
 
Perhaps someone like Peter Hurney of Pohaku Ukulele could fulfill your request in a more custom instrument build. I have one of Peter's resonators and it's a wonderful instrument. No desire to try steel strings on it though.
 
So I used to have an old Gretsch banjo uke from the 20's. It was built like a tank. The neck was one solid piece of wood like a small baseball bat.

Just for fun I put half a set of mandolin strings on it, as the scales are the same.

Despite the extra tension, structurally it was fine, easy to play, nice way to practice those old Irish fiddle tunes I know from playing the mandolin.

But man, that thing was a SCREAMER.

I'm thinking take a metal body uke, like maybe a Gold Tone, and swap out the neck with something solid like that. Metal strings, high nut, lightweight slide.
 
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